 The next item of business today is a member's business debate on motion number 10265 in the name of Linda Fabiani on East Kilbride has real heroes. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put and I would invite those members who wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I would again invite those members who are leaving to do so quickly and quietly and I now call on Linda Fabiani to open the debate. Seven minutes please, Ms Fabiani. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It gives me great pleasure to hold this debate at the motion entitled East Kilbride has real heroes, which it certainly does. The reason for having the debate is because of Scottish television's Scotland's real heroes award, which is sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland. I would like to say a few words first of all about Scottish television because I think it should be noted that STV in my part of the country certainly and the city of Glasgow and all the cities. The reason I am saying in my part the country is because I know somebody that represents the borders would be able to come in and say there are issues there, but I know that those are being addressed as far as possible. Generally, across the country, Scottish television has become like community television for us. It cares about communities and does a lot of work in communities to recognise those that make our communities so strong. I found that particularly in East Kilbride, when we had a wonderful last call, Kayleigh McLeod from STV, who worked there and is still very much missed by the community groups and the charities with which she did such work and raised awareness of her work for them. That is what Scotland's real heroes is about. It is about the Scottish public voting for the winners as this particular series celebrates people's efforts and dedication. For reference, it will be on from 15 August and each episode every Friday thereafter. It pays tribute to people who work so hard in their communities and who have ambition and generosity, and it is about improving things for other people. East Kilbride has loads of that. In the 20 years of so that I have worked there, I have found that very strongly. People from all walks of life, people from all age groups who work very, very hard to give others a helping hand and to improve things in their area. It is all those things that the programme recognises. The Shortlist Awards, Entrepreneur of the Year, Sporting Volunteer of the Year, Hero Neighbour, Community Champion, Community Project and Environmental Project, The Courage Award—which is one that I want to talk about today particularly—and the Carer of the Year award. Then there is Young Real Hero of the Year and the Hero Animal of the Year. I think that our own Mr Q should perhaps have been put in for that, for putting up with us all and all the noise that he has to put up with in this chamber. As I said, it is about viewers voting for the nominees, the ones that they think most deserve to win the real heroes award. Pass winners, I would like to congratulate them. They have been some fantastic winners. I would also, before I get on to East Kilbride, to speak about the current nominees. They have come from all walks of life, and I think that they should all be celebrated. I hope that there are people in here that are going to mention them. I hope that folk from Glasgow, Inverclyde, Skye, West Lothian, North and South Lanarkshire, Caithness, the Highlands—I hope that I am not missing any—East Ayrshire, Van Edinburgh, Clydebank, Portobello, Argyll and Bute, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. However, as far as I am concerned, the ones that should win this live in East Kilbride, because East Kilbride has real heroes. I would like to say a few words about the nominees from East Kilbride. The first one, I would like to talk about, is a fantastic name, Maws Mafia. Fabulous. Four ladies, Elmar Oslin, Morrison, Leslie McGinley and Connie Smiley, who have been nominated for the Carer Award. They are certainly known locally as Maws Mafia and we are all quite scared of them. Those are ladies who work in various kinds of voluntary work but who have fought so hard, so very, very hard for the rights of their children. There is a big issue here. Young people with special needs who go to school together, who form friendships and social relationships, perhaps go to the youth club together. What happened here was that they left school and carried on going to the youth club, but when they were then too old, hit 21, too old to go to the youth club, they were not allowed to go any more. Their social network fell apart and all of a sudden these young people were isolated. Maws Mafia got together with others and what they did was they started up a weekly club, started off in Claremont Parish Church, now it takes place in Calder Glen High School every Monday night and they offer services, social services, trips, activities for 18 to 25-year-olds. They were nominated by Alison Gilmar. She nominated the Hangout for the award because of her niece, Stephanie Kelly, who was left wheelchair bound after an accident. Fantastic service growing all the time and I want to pay tribute to Bruce Hotel and the Sky Lounge in East Kilbride, which have just offered regular discos free of charge. The other person in East Kilbride who has been nominated, the Courage Award is Jenny Cook and I'm sure many of you have heard of Miss Jenny Cook. Fantastic young lady aged 11 years old. Jenny has ulcerative colitis and aged just six years, Jenny had her disease large bowel removed because medication was no longer working. Even through that Jenny started fundraising and persuaded her family and her teachers and her school friends to help out. She was only five when she organised her first fundraiser, which raised £5,000. She's quite a gal. She then, a couple of years later, met Derek McEwn, who set up the Catherine McEwn Foundation in memory of his mum who died of Crohn's disease. They've been fundraising ever since and Jenny is absolutely astounding. If I tell you at age 11, she has raised over £30,000 for York Hill children's charity and she's not stopped yet because her next target is £50,000 by the year 2016. She's becoming very well known because she's a very, very special young girl. She's already applied regularly with George Galloway during the Jenny Cook report of how her charity work is going and she has become terribly good friends with our own First Minister. In fact, she was one of his guests at the recent opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. I think that he's known to be a bit out of joint because since she got interviewed by Nicholas MacDonald for this TV programme, I'm afraid Nicholas MacDonald is the one that's uppermost in Jenny's mind. She also does great budding work with other young people at York Hill, which is so very, very important and runs a huge fundraiser every year called T Jenny, which takes place in September. I say that I'm running out of time and I could talk about these nominees forever. What I think is particularly great is that both Moss Mafia from The Hangout and Jenny Cook are meeting up soon to give each other joint support going into this competition because that's what the community of East Kilbride does and that's what it's like. I'll just close by saying that East Kilbride has real heroes. I would like to begin by welcoming the opportunity to speak in this motion this afternoon and also by congratulating Linda Fabiani for securing this debate. This week has seen the Parliament confront issues that divide opinion from data security and arm police to Gaza and the big decision in September. But in a week in which we have tackled the contentious and the controversial, it is a particular privilege to be able to address a topic that unites us all. Scotland is a charitable nation, we are a given nation and we don't just give money to good causes, we give our time, our energy, our ideas and our creativity. There are real heroes in every community and this is our chance to recognise the examples set by just some of them. So let me echo Linda Fabiani's remarks and put on record my own congratulations for all those who have been shortlisted. Let me also thank the RBS for making these awards possible and STV for telling the stories behind the words. Hopefully those stories will inspire others to act or will at least foster a greater appreciation of the many acts of selflessness and kindness that happen every day and every community and every part of Scotland. I also want to mention my own part of Scotland, East Kilbride, where I've lived for over nearly 40 years and brought up my own family. I can honestly say that East Kilbride is very much a village in itself. For people with learning disabilities, the transition to adulthood can be difficult and it isn't just difficult for that individual person but also for the family who might have to find a new routine and may even have to face new obstacles. East Kilbride Hangout Club has already addressed a gap in the provision of services in the town and it's a gap that couldn't be plugged right now without volunteers so I'm really glad to see that they have been nominated for the Carer of the Year award and again we Jenny Cook, the work that she's actually done is a young person fundraising for Crohn's Colitis and York Hill and even volunteering as a hospital buddy for sick children and she is an exemplary candidate for the Real Heroes Courage award and there are others. Yous and Recycle have come to this Parliament before to tell us about their social enterprise. They recycle building materials and furniture at a profit to reinvest in the community in addition to a diverting waste from landfill. They place people including people with disabilities and employment and in training programmes. Margaret Gibb of the west of Scotland play scheme has given 30 years to supporting play groups in play scheme. The driving force gives her time to help transport hospital patients in central Scotland and in Coatbridge the home of so many of our star athletes from the Commonwealth Games. Two of the town's sport and fitness enthusiasts have been shortlisted for the sporting volunteer of the year award. Presiding Officer, those nominations, those heroes, are the people who make Scotland the given nation that it is. I look forward to seeing them on STV and I wish them every success in the awards. Thank you. Thank you and I now call on the Stuart McMillan to be followed by Margaret Mitchell. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. East Kilbride does indeed have real heroes and I commend them all, but so too does every other part of Scotland as well. But certainly listening to Linda Fabiani and talking about Jenny Cook and Morse mafia, certainly very much tremendously inspirational and certainly I thank Linda for doing that. I do want to thank Linda Fabiani for securing this important debate. I think recognising the excellent work that takes place every single day across the country is important and today's debate I hope actually adds to that recognition and I do want to put them on record, however, by congratulations to all the nominees from all over Scotland. The list reminds us all that Scotland is full of outstanding entrepreneurs, talented athletes, conscious citizens and compassionate caretakers and Scotland's real heroes is a programme which highlights those who have had a positive impact on the community, inviting the Scottish people to get to know what they've done and also encourage them to support efforts and become involved in their own community. I'd like to recognise just one of those great nominees. It's a lady called Vicky McArthur from Inverclyde. Miss McArthur is the Founder and Executive Director of Reach for Autism and Vicky is very much a hardworking and proud mother and she has a child with autism and she has won her nominees in the community entrepreneur of the year award. Over the last few years Vicky has been of great support to many parents and she has worked as a nurse both domestically and abroad but not long ago felt that she ought to change direction and focus her efforts on studying autism after her daughter was diagnosed in 2005. She is without doubt passionate about helping people with autism to reach their full potential and to become contributing valued members of their local community. She would also like to help and support their families helping them to better understand and appreciate their loved ones with autism. Reach for Autism founded when Vicky became frustrated with her lack of support and services for people living with autism and Vicky and a group of parents and allies decided to take matters into their own hands and work to provide a long-term sustainable solution not by replacing or duplicating what is done but by working to plug any gaps in service delivery. Reach provides a wide range of support and services for people with autism and their loved ones and the organisation has stated that the primary goal is to create connection and community for all people with autism. Reach has developed its own method known as the Reach Way, a simple approach that focuses on relationships, education, action, community and health. It is very clever on that. The method is delivered by a team that includes parents of autistic children, occupational therapists, social workers, families, community supporters and other members of the community. The programme is an excellent way to create community integration and involvement. Some of the specific programmes organised by Reach include community group workshops, educational courses, seminars, stress management programmes and a newsletter covering current events and issues in the community that relate to autism. Reach has grown rapidly and earlier this year, it opened a base in Rathur Street in Greenock. Only this week, Michael Matheson MSP, the Scottish Government's public health minister, paid him a visit. I know that he was greatly impressed by what he had seen, particularly as he had met Vicky and another couple of representatives only a couple of years ago when they had bags of enthusiasm and support but they had precious little resource. Vicky is a truly remarkable woman and she will probably be the chimney for this when I see her next time. She is certainly not scared of asking people for help and once she actually has your number and she has your email address that you know that she is actually going to use it and she does and I don't mind that because I know that Vicky and her team actually are doing positive work and they are getting results. In closing, Presiding Officer, I wish to express my gratitude to the organisers of the real heroes programme and their efforts to recognise a few of the many people working to make Scotland an incredible place. They have high standards and, indeed, it is an honour for anyone to be nominated. Again, I wish to congratulate all the nominees for the Scotland Heroes Award and once again thank Linda Fabiani for bringing this to the Parliament. Given the current culture of an increasing obsession with celebrity and fame, often achieved through reality TV or by an individual's relentless self-promotion, it is gratifying and entirely appropriate that those who selflessly give up their own time and work within their local communities to make a real difference to people's lives have been given the opportunity not only to be recognised by STV Scotland's real heroes award but also in this chamber today. Nominations for the awards were sought from anyone in the local community who wished to highlight the valuable work of their friends, neighbours or colleagues. As Linda confirmed earlier, I understand that filming of the nominees with the awards presenter Carl Smiley is progressing and the first episode is due to be screened on Friday 15 August. This is the second year that STV and the Royal Bank of Scotland have embarked on the search for Scotland's real heroes. Previous winners from last year include Alf Collington, who set up the Falkirk Food Bank and Murio Keef, CEO of Scotland's only respite centre that specialises in outings for people with MS. It is also very encouraging that, of the 30 nominees this year, two are from East Kilbride and almost a quarter are from Central Region. Linda Fabiani has already spoken about East Kilbride's Elma Ross, Lynn Morrison, Leslie McGinley and Connie Smiley, Acha, Maes Moffia. The superb work that those women have been involved in in proving the lives of young adults with special needs. East Kilbride hang out, the mum's run on a Monday night at Calder Glen High, has proved the only local support service that offers activities for 18 to 25-year-olds with disabilities and learning difficulties. And 11-year-old Jenny Cook, despite facing huge challenges in her own young life, has been inspiring in raising £30,000 for two compelling causes, namely York Hills Children's Charity and Catherine McEwn Foundation. The latter aims to improve the lives of sufferers with Crohn's disease and colitis and the money raised goes towards further research and training about inflammatory bowel diseases. York Hills Children's Charity is based at York Hills Hospital and helps to improve the experience of being in hospital for countless children who are sadly required to be patients. The charity has in the past funded millions of pounds towards child-specific medical equipment and support for the families and parents of children for whom visiting hospital has been the predominant experience of their life. Other nominees from the central region include Pat Bannon, a 66-year-old from my native Coakbridge, who has been nominated for supporting volunteer of the year. Pat is being recognised for encouraging members of his community to get fit. Andrew Campbell, also from Coakbridge, has been nominated for the same award for providing low cost and sometimes free taekwondo lessons for children in the area. Margaret Gibb for Bellshill has been recognised for, as Margaret mentioned, 30 years that she has given to play groups and play schemes in the area, truly astounding. Bellshill-based use, spelled Y-O-O-Z, re-use and recycle, has also been nominated for the environmental project of the year, which provides products from unwanted buildings and sells them on at a reduced rate. Since 2009, the project has saved a staggering 4,000 tonnes plus of supposed waste material from going to the landfill. I consider myself privileged to represent a region where so many of my constituencies are giving up their time to set up initiatives and to creatively aid and engage with such varied and worthwhile projects. STV and RBS, as sponsors, are to be congratulated on introducing the real heroes awards, offering, as it does, well-deserved recognition for the selfless and public-spirited local groups and individuals, as well as recognising our local animal heroes. Thank you very much. I now call Minister Aileen Campbell to close the debate on behalf of the Government. Seven minutes are thereby, please, minister. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you also to Linda Fabiani for bringing into our attention the outstanding work of both Jenny Cook and, I agree, the fabulously main, Maus Mafia, to her attention Lynn Morrison, Leslie McGinley, Elmeros and Connie Smiley. I congratulate Jenny on her nomination for Scotland's real heroes courage award and Maus Mafia for its nomination in the carer of the year category. I would also like to commend RBS and STV for running the Scotland's real heroes awards and for the series of programmes that will recognise Scottish people who put others before themselves and as Margaret McCulloch, Stuart McMillan and Margaret Mitchell. All rightly noted, there are heroes in absolutely every community and it's great to see them being recognised and given their recognition that they deserve. How can you possibly choose a winner when you look at the short list, which is full of absolutely amazing people and inspirational stories? Good luck to absolutely everyone on that list and congratulations to all of them. I want to particularly start and to emphasise the work of Jenny both on being nominated and also on being shortlisted for the courage award. Jenny, as we've heard from many speakers, is a remarkable young girl who, despite her own on-going health issues, has dedicated her energy and time into raising significant funds to help others. She's pledged to raise 50,000 and has already raised, as Linda said, over 31,000 phenomenal figures for someone who is so young. Her fundraising is directly benefiting the lives of other children who suffer from inflammatory bowel diseases. That's something that young people do all the time. They want to put back into the system something to help others who are going through similar stories. I think that those funds have been used to provide days out for other young people and their families and to support research activities. That vital support is making a real difference to the lives of sufferers, both now and in the future. As is evident from today's debate, we have all been impressed by Jenny and her dedication, who, just 11 years of age, is making such an impact on the lives of others. This selfless work is truly inspirational to us all. As Linda also said, she has a real fan in the First Minister who met her here in Holyrood earlier this year and, of course, was his guest at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. Jenny does sterling work, and this is not going on notice. She is a young ambassador for Yorkhill children's charity and is also part of the Yorkhill buddy scheme, which is helping to support other young people who are frequent patients at Yorkhill. She is a radio star too, regularly playing in radio Clyde's Robin Galloway Sunday show. We, Jenny, now has a high public profile, which raises the profile of her fundraising activities, which in turn benefits the children and their families who attend Yorkhill children's hospital. At 11 years old, I do not really know how she manages to find the time to do all those things. Truly a remarkable lady and someone that we should celebrate very much so, and it is good that we are getting the opportunity to do so here in the chamber. That, of course, is complemented by the work that we are doing as a Government and taken forward by my colleague Michael Matheson to try and help others who are sufferers of inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's and Colitis. We should also recognise the work that Michael Matheson is doing, but certainly the work that Jenny is doing is what we are here to celebrate today. Turning now to Maus Mafia, I also want to congratulate Elma Ross, Lynne Morrison, Leslie McGinley and Connie Smiley and everyone else who is involved for the commitment, the tireless effort and the dedication that they have shown in establishing and running Maus Mafia. Their hard work is benefiting many young people with disabilities and learning difficulties in East Kilbride, including their own children. The impact of the project cannot be underestimated. The very fact that the family of Stephanie Kennedy, one of its attendees, has nominated them for a real hero award is testament to just how much the project means to the individuals that attend and their families. It should be recognised as an outstanding model of local communities using their own assets to deliver a service that meets the needs of the community. We should also learn from it to address barriers of isolation and loneliness that other young disabled people may be experiencing in other areas of Scotland. With the legislative changes that we have made as part of our reform to public services, the Public Bodies Joint Working Act, the Recently Passed Children and Young People Act, which I took through Parliament and self-directed support, we should not lose sight of those young people who need support and who, like every other young person across Scotland, want to have their pals about them and to have those connections with others. The need to address isolation and loneliness is highlighted in the 2010 evaluation of the same as you. It told us that only one in three people interviewed were able to name at least one close friend. That is why the Scottish Government in partnership with Equal Futures and other relevant organisations held a friendship event in January of this year to help people with learning disabilities to be supported to have more friends. It is our intention to plan for more events this year, but we cannot take the foot of the gas on getting transitions right and ensuring simple things like solid relationships are valued. Our current strategies to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities, autism and their families and carers, the keys to life and the Scottish strategy for autism, are underpinned by human rights and the principles that are based on dignity, choice and realising potential. Young people with learning disabilities should have opportunities in their communities that enable them to socialise and to be part of that community. We know that having an act of social life and feeling included helps to improve health and wellbeing for people with learning disabilities and autism. That is why we are delighted to commend MozMafia for giving young people with disabilities and learning difficulties an environment where they can socialise and enjoy a range of different activities and experiences and their work as an embodiment of what we are trying and aiming to achieve. We are also, as well as supporting young people with disabilities and learning difficulties, the Scottish Government is investing in support for carers, carers like Elma Lynn Leslie and Connie at MozMafia to continue to care for their families, neighbours and to lead a life alongside their caring responsibilities. That is why we have committed significant resources of nearly £114 million to supporting carers between 2007 and 2015. We have also invested nearly £14 million in the voluntary sector short breaks fund, which allows carers, young carers and cared for persons to take a break from their caring responsibilities, giving them an opportunity to relax without feeling stress or feeling guilty. Over £8 million of that investment has gone into supporting children and young people with disabilities and their carers. To conclude, I cannot agree more with the speakers today who praised Jerry and the MozMafia so highly. With their help and with the help of others like them, the Scottish Government will continue to work towards its aspiration to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up. That can only ever be achieved if we work in partnership and ensure that we value the work of our army of volunteers right across every community in our country. I wish Jenny Cook and MozMafia, Pat Bannon and Vicky MacArthur and everyone else who has been mentioned and all those who are on the shortlist, all the very best at the Scotland's Real Heroes awards ceremony in September. I wish Jenny continued success in her fundraising activities and MozMafia continued success in running the much-valued service in East Kilbride. Scotland has a hugely talented army of people who are doing amazing things for people and creating better lives and life chances for so many, so we should value them. It is a great privilege to be able to speak and conclude in this debate for the Government. Again, I thank Linda Fabiani for bringing those two wonderful groups to our attention and for allowing us to celebrate them in an appropriate and highly respectful way. Many thanks. I now suspend this meeting of Parliament until 2.30.